ICP’s Violent J Spends Weekend In St. Louis Jail

It seems no Insane Clown Posse tour would be complete without a run-in with Johnny Law.

Violent J, half of the grease-painted rap duo, was arrested in Columbia, Missouri, on Thursday for an outstanding warrant in St. Louis. Police detained him after the clowns wrapped up the latest leg of their Bizzar Bizaar tour at the Blue Note, according to Captain Mike Martin of the Columbia Police Department.

Columbia officials used several squad cars to stop a vehicle carrying J, partner in rhyme Shaggy 2 Dope and two associates a few miles from the venue. Martin called the coordinated maneuver a felony car stop, meaning “a higher level stop than when you get pulled over for speeding. We had an individual here who advocates violence, and it was a situation where we had some concerns over our officers’ safety.”
Violent J (real name Joseph Bruce), 29, was detained for the night in Columbia before St. Louis officials transported him to their city the following day, Martin said. He was released on bail Monday morning (June 18).

The rapper maintains that the St. Louis prosecutor visited the clowns’ Web site and read about the band’s fictitious personas as serial killer clowns who wouldn’t give up without a fight, and thus the police were ordered to proceed with caution.

“There were police cars everywhere,” J said, “like they were arresting Charles Manson. I’ve been arrested my fair share of times, and I’ve never seen this many police cars arrest anybody.”
The warrant stems from an incident in February when the ICP allegedly attacked employees of a St. Louis radio station over disparaging remarks a disc jockey made on the air. After police broke up the melee, posse member Douglas Dail was arrested on two counts of assault, while J walked away from the scuffle without legal hassle.